The Denver Nuggets are a professional basketball team based in Denver, Colorado, competing in the NBA's Western Conference. Founded in 1967 as the Denver Larks (quickly renamed the Rockets) in the American Basketball Association (ABA), they became the Nuggets in 1974 and joined the NBA in 1976 after the ABA–NBA merger, having reached the ABA Finals that year but losing to the New York Nets. The franchise enjoyed significant regular-season success in the NBA, posting nine consecutive playoff appearances in the 1980s and another ten straight from 2004 to 2013, but famously struggled to win a title. That changed in 2023 when, led by Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray, the Nuggets reached their first NBA Finals and defeated the Miami Heat to capture the franchise's first championship. Notably, they were the last surviving former ABA team to make the NBA Finals and only the second to win an NBA title (after the San Antonio Spurs). The team plays its home games at Ball Arena, sharing the venue with the NHL's Colorado Avalanche and NLL's Colorado Mammoth.